“If we start from the idea of Hay, we proceed through the Norman form which was not foin (this could never have given us fen), but fein or fayn, or fain, pronounced as modern English fain (the nasal n in Norman being of little account except after the simple vowels a and e). But the corresponding verb ‘to cut hay’ was actually ‘fener.’ The phrase ‘Li fain estoient fené’ is quoted from Froissart in Godefroy’s Old French Dictionary, s.v. Fener. And the verb fener is still in use in Burgundy.
“It is easy to see how the word fain could thus be associated with a pronunciation fen, and Englishmen who knew no French (there were plenty of them) may very well have imagined in their hearts that the reference was to the mud in the streets. That there was mud may be taken for granted. There is some left still.
“There was also a remarkable adjective feneresse, whence the word feneresse, a female seller of hay. And there was a word fenerie which meant a barn for hay. And feneron, a hay maker.”
Professor Skeat later repeats that if the word for hay is used by itself in London, it will be in the form of fein-fain. The spelling Fanchurch is especially valuable; in fact, it settles it, for fan may be short for fain whereas fan cannot be another form of fen.
There are extant many ancient deeds connected with this street. Here was a brew-house called Le George super le Hoop.
Roman remains have been found here, vases, things in bronze, and an iron candlestick.
At No. 119 Fenchurch Street is a tavern known as the Elephant. It stands on the site of a house called the Elephant and Castle. In the Great Fire this house, being built of stone, resisted the flames, and offered shelter to many homeless people. Is the same thing related of the churches? They, too, were built of stone. Why did not they resist the flames?
Wallace was taken, on his arrival in London as a prisoner, to the house of William de Leyre in Fenchurch Street.
At the King’s Head Tavern, Queen Elizabeth was regaled with pork and peas on a certain visit to the City.
In Fenchurch Street at present, on the south side, the building numbered 3 and 4, which contains the Castle Mail Packet Company, is well designed, with wide, deeply-recessed windows enriched by mouldings. The ground-floor is encased in grey polished granite. Langbourn Chambers is a huge mass of building. Down the side of the street are various plain brick buildings of different ages interspersed with modern erections, stone fronted.